WFAS 1230/WFAS-FM 103.9, White Plains, NY

In this
week's installment of Tower Site of the Week, we continue to
dig through our archives to catch up on some of the many fascinating
studio and transmitter sites in the biggest radio market in America.

This week, we move from New York City itself into the suburbs
- Westchester County, just north of the big city, to be specific
- as we visit a station that's been the launching point for countless
careers over a history that stretches back more than eighty years.
This is WFAS (1230 White Plains) and WFAS-FM (103.9 Bronxville),
licensed to White Plains and operating from a site just off Secor
Road in the town of Greenburgh.

The
history, first: WFAS(AM) dates back to 1932 under its current
call letters, which stand for Frank A. Seitz, husband and father
of station founders Selma Seitz and Frank Seitz Jr. But when
they put WFAS on the air from the Roger Smith Hotel in downtown
White Plains, the station already had a six-year legacy, most
recently as WCOH in nearby Yonkers, and before that as Brooklyn-based
WBRS, dating back to 1926.

In its new White Plains home, WFAS was an immediate success,
even though it wasn't a full-time operation. First on 1210, then
on 1240 after the NARBA frequency shifts of 1941, the 250-watt
signal had to share its frequency with Long Island's WGBB in
Freeport. It wasn't until March 27, 1943 that WFAS finally won
full-time authorization by sliding down the dial one notch to
1230, where it's been ever since.

In 1947, WFAS traded its short tower on the roof of the Roger
Smith Hotel for the present transmitter site in Greenburgh, building
the small transmitter shack that survives today at one end of
the current WFAS building. (Look carefully at the right side
of the building to see the original structure.) 1947 also saw
the debut of WFAS-FM, initially as a full-time simulcast of the
AM signal. Seven years later, WFAS moved its studios from the
Roger Smith out to the Secor Road site, building the first of
what would be several additions to the original 1947 structure.

After several sales and format changes (including a few years
in the late 70s and early 80s when the FM was known as WWYD),
WFAS and WFAS-FM had settled into a period of stability when
we dropped by in January 2008. From the lobby (decorated with
the top beacon of the old self-supporting AM/FM tower that came
down in 1985, replaced by the present 450-foot guyed tower),
a window looks into a row of studios, one for the AM station
(now playing soft AC, mostly automated outside a local morning
show) and one for the FM (with live personalities all day long,
playing a blend of workplace-friendly AC tunes).

A large sales office faces the front of the property, overlooking
Secor Road, while a newsroom and small news studio sit around
the corner. At the back of the building, the original transmitter
room now holds a motley array of new and old transmitters for
AM and FM. The current main transmitters are a Harris for WFAS-FM
and a BE for WFAS(AM). There's also automation back here for
WFAF (106.3 Mount Kisco), which simulcasts WFAS-FM for audiences
in northern Westchester.

There's also a production studio tucked back here, in a room
adjoining the transmitter room. And there are changes coming
- Cumulus recently relicensed WFAS-FM to Bronxville, and it has
a construction permit to move the FM signal south to the new
WFUV site in the Bronx. Will that mean new studios, a new format,
or even a sale to a new owner?

Only time will tell - but in the meantime, we're glad to have
had a look at all the history (including the concrete bases of
the old tower out back) that mark this venerable Westchester
transmitter and studio site.

Thanks to WFAS CE Randy Shull for the tour!

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